Greening Desert, and a 300 yr old Food Forest.

Two links I came accross that I thought were pretty amazing so sharing here, The food forest had sustained 28 generations, think of the carbon these could sink  -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohI6vnWZmk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5ZgzwoQ-ao&feature=related

Re: Greening Desert, and a 300 yr old Food Forest.

Gael, what great links! Greening the desert…

I have a question about that.  SHOULD we green the desert?  Were deserts created by anthropocentric ways?  Was that land destroyed by human use and therefore became a desert? OR, was the desert part of our land before humans existed? 

The reason I ask is because I think we come to a very frightening border when we try and create something that was not supposed to be there in the first place.  Obviously so, because look at where we are now.

However, I do not know much about the history of deserts and how long they have been around for; therefore, I don't know the pros/cons of creating a “garden of eden” out of that land.

If you know more about it, please feel free to share.  I would love to learn more.

Re: Greening Desert, and a 300 yr old Food Forest.

I know large areas in china, were overgrazed, causing desertification, a couple of links -

http://www.ipsnews.net/fao_magazine/environment.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification

Re: Greening Desert, and a 300 yr old Food Forest.

A couple of years ago I read an article in The Seattle Times that really stuck with me, about desertification in China being caused by the overgrazing of goats - as a result of the high demand/lowering cost of cashmere.  An excerpt:

Re: Greening Desert, and a 300 yr old Food Forest.

As always, thank you for the wonderful links, Gael.  It is amazing to learn how other countries are facing the environmental “crisis” as well.  The poverty levels are so high and the environmental issues contribute to their loss of income & survival. 

You know, I would be interested to hear how you feel about organic farming & GMOs & how they may or may not work to solve hunger.  I know that GMOs are banned in Europe & I wonder what your take on that is; considering, the rise of desertification, it seems as though hunger levels will continue to rise, too.

Re: Greening Desert, and a 300 yr old Food Forest.

Hi Rachel, well I hesitate to give a blanket answer, because every area is different with its own ecology and different problems, in principle I like organic, but it has become too expensive and regimented and sometimes a transition stage is required,  before certification, here natural farming or gardening fits the bill, though at first even there compromises may be needed as the change progresses.  In India GMO'S brought farmers to the point where many committed suicide, it ties them to the seed companies who profit greatly and to chemical farming which with declining oil will be unsustainable and a rising expense. Many are returning to heritage varieties and natural methods. There is the danger of cross gmo'ing with similar plants and heritage varieties and weeds getting undesirable qualities and running amok. Personally I garden with heritage seeds and find with natural methods of gardening plants and seeds are stronger, healthier, and far more productive and I find myself giving away my surplus of seeds, seedlings and produce. FI seeds often don't live up to their promises, are expensive and seed quantities poor, they are designed to travel and look good for the agricultural / supermarket industry, and lose out on flavour and diversity, and do not reproduce true to parent so need to be bought fresh each year, heritage seeds I can save, swap, are diverse and full of flavour, and cost me nothing, after the first year. The differences between gardening and farming are not that great, just a matter of scale, the principles remain the same.

http://www.earthportals.com/free.html

Re: Greening Desert, and a 300 yr old Food Forest.

Tsuya, yes most very cheap goods have a hidden cost. The regreening is possible though which is encouraging.

Re: Greening Desert, and a 300 yr old Food Forest.

Wow, Gael.  I had no idea that GMOs had that much of an impact on farming in India.  The consequences for farmers are apparently quite detrimental.  It is who they are, how they build their lives and families.  How sad that they are being affected on such a level - mainly due to corporate greed?